I Decided to Give the Contract to the Male Vassal - Chapter 13
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 13
Baekryeong Valley in the northern inland of the Heavenly Sect.
This was where Chomunhang, the twelfth of the twenty-eight halls that supported the Heavenly Sect, was located.
Chomunhang was an institution that researched mystical formations, and most of the mystical formations protecting Cheonsan were created here.
A white hawk flew into the main hall located in the deepest part.
The hawk perched on the windowsill perch and waited quietly for its master.
A man with neatly combed hair wearing a ceremonial cap approached that direction.
He examined the message tube tied to the hawk’s leg with clear and refined eyes.
Inside was a message written in code.
The moment he unfolded it, the corner of the man’s mouth curved upward.
Elder Brother Eleven.
It was a message sent by Chung-rin.
It must have been delivered by Okxiang, who was dispatched to the Yeomhwa Family.
Release document number one hundred and one from the Sangteon-dang secret archives.
The target is the grand lady of the Yeomhwa Family, Sobaek.
‘Chung-rin, who has been confined all this time, knows about the secret archives?’
A faint smile lingered on Elder Brother Eleven’s lips.
The secret archives.
Documents containing the secrets of the Yeomhwa Family, information that could be obtained because spies were mixed deep within the Yeomhwa Family.
Among them, Chung-rin had requested document number one hundred and one.
‘Does this mean she also knows what document one hundred and one contains?’
This alone was surprising, but he hadn’t expected her to choose such a method to avoid marriage.
‘What did Chung-rin teach that woman?’
The woman secretly raised by Chung-rin, who was called Sangteon-dang’s greatest talent.
In return, she planned to provide one of the five clues to the antidote.
She had boldly offered compensation first from her side.
Elder Brother Eleven had always lived in tension during his time in Mageyo.
Eighty percent of his life was lies, and the remaining twenty percent that was truth constantly hit walls.
But suddenly appearing Hee-rin brought change to his world.
Thanks to obtaining spare antidotes with the information she brought, Sangteon-dang’s shackles had loosened considerably.
This was a good change for him.
‘If Chung-rin is acting according to what Chung-rin taught her, what is Chung-rin trying to do through Chung-rin?’
Various questions filled his mind, but he soon shook his head.
‘Chung-rin never acted recklessly. So Chung-rin must be the same.’
As if resolved, he set fire to the message and dropped it onto a silver plate.
‘For now, I’ll do as she wishes.’
Since he had received the antidote, he would act as she desired.
Elder Brother Eleven immediately wrote a letter and put it in the message hawk’s tube.
Shortly after, the message hawk secretly flew out of Baekryeong Valley.
❖ ❖ ❖
At the same time Elder Brother Eleven confirmed the coded message Hee-rin sent.
The northeastern edge of the Heavenly Sect.
Above Binghondae Gorge was the residence of Third Prince Wicheonso, Cheongwolgung.
The prison in the deepest part of Cheongwolgung.
Today as well, agonized screams continued endlessly from that place.
Wicheonso sat in a chair, facing the blood-covered, trembling Absorbent Sword Demon with a leisurely smile.
It was an appearance not much different from the rumors of being mad for blood.
“…I only received and transported the item, I don’t know where it is.”
The Absorbent Sword Demon spoke with difficulty, but Wicheonso’s expression was indifferent.
“Where did you transport it to?”
The Absorbent Sword Demon had been repeating the same words for days and not answering this question, but today, in front of Wicheonso, it was different.
He moved his body greatly and then opened his eyes wide, as if he couldn’t bear not telling the truth.
“…Akmureu.”
After finishing these words, the Absorbent Sword Demon spat out blood once, then dropped his head.
It seemed his body had reached its limit.
Wicheonso stood up and gestured.
“Dispose of him.”
Meaning there was nothing more to find out.
Along with screams reminiscent of nightmares, blood splattered even onto Wicheonso’s pale face.
He came up to his office through the underground stairs as if it was nothing.
A waiting subordinate handed Wicheonso a white cotton cloth.
“Did you obtain information about the Blood Life Flower?”
Blood Life Flower.
A sacred object of the Heavenly Sect that only those permitted by the Sect Leader could take, and also what Wicheonso was searching for.
Three days after the Blood Life Flower was lost, Wicheonso’s subordinate discovered traces of the Blood Life Flower at a lake near the Yeomhwa Family, but that was as far as it went.
Afterward, Wicheonso found the Absorbent Sword Demon who was the carrier, and learned from him about the place where the sacred object was transported.
“Yes. The transport location was Akmureu.”
“If it’s that place, there wouldn’t be a list of traders remaining. Still, it confirms that there’s a traitor within our sect as you said, my lord.”
“Check if the Blood Life Flower was leaked outside Cheonsan. There must be those who are moving.”
“I shall obey your command.”
Wicheonso wiped the blood from his face with the cotton cloth he received.
‘Judging by how cleanly the work was handled, it won’t be easy to uncover the mastermind.’
That’s why he suspected the Yeomhwa Family, the only place where traces of the Blood Life Flower remained.
The missing Blood Life Flower, Yeonhopyeong who was there, and Chung-rin who had fallen into the lake.
These seemingly unrelated but intertwined pieces might perhaps be one thread, he thought.
“Come to think of it, a servant brought this.”
The letter his subordinate showed had no sender written on it.
“There was no poison on it, but please be careful nonetheless.”
The subordinate seemed to have had much deliberation about whether to give this to him.
Wicheonso picked it up and unfolded it without delay.
Neat and elegant handwriting greeted him.
I have thought about what you said to me, Your Highness.
Though I am confined, I believe there may be a way for me to repay your kindness.
Wicheonso was certain this was a letter sent by Chung-rin.
‘Repay kindness, she says…’
The moment he saw that letter, he had a strong conviction that she knew something.
“Chungbeom.”
His subordinate raised his head.
“Did you find out why Cheonjeon interfered with the Yeomhwa Family’s marriage?”
“Cheonjeon seems to have been searching for Seolsan Jeokga for a long time. During that time, Yeomhwa Family head Yeonjo found the secluded Seolsan Jeokga, and pressured them to arrange a political marriage with Chung-rin.”
“What was the reason for searching for Seolsan Jeokga?”
“It’s not known.”
“So, did they perhaps possess some great power?”
“Nothing is known. Seolsan Jeokga is a family that chose seclusion, and Chung-rin has never appeared at any Yeomhwa Family events either.”
A family about which nothing was known except that long ago, Seol Yeongseonsja, who built fame with ice techniques, was from Seolsan Jeokga.
Whatever the reason, if the Sect Leader wanted the bloodline of Seolsan Jeokga, interfering with the Yeomhwa Family’s marriage wasn’t so strange.
“However, the wedding was postponed for three years when Cheonjeon entered closed-door training.”
This meant the wedding ceremony should have been held at age nineteen when she came of age.
“Then the original wedding would have been right after Cheonjeon personally sent me to Cheongwolgung.”
“That’s probably correct.”
Around the same time, the Sect Leader placed him in the position of Third Prince. Since it was a period of making important decisions, it also meant that postponing the wedding ceremony wasn’t significant enough to matter.
‘Then it really wasn’t just because of secluded cultivation.’
The position of Sect Leader of the Heavenly Sect cannot be maintained through martial prowess alone.
As the living god of the Heavenly Sect, the Sect Leader had to encompass the elders, the Four Great Protectors, the Twenty-Eight Heavenly Orders, and the Seven Great Demon Families, while also leading the ordinary followers.
The Sect Leader was not one to move carelessly, and there was a high possibility that he had postponed Chung-rin’s marriage for political reasons.
“Who is Chung-rin’s marriage partner?”
“It’s Yeonhopyeong, the young master of the Yeomhwa Family. You must have faced him at Majeokgak before, my lord.”
“Well. Since I can’t remember, he must not have been particularly skilled in martial arts.”
Chungbeom quietly shook his head upon hearing Wicheonso’s response.
He wondered how many late-stage masters could leave an impression on the Third Prince through martial arts.
“Still, permission for the marriage has been granted this time. It means they can no longer postpone it.”
“I see. Has Miss Chung ever exchanged correspondence with the outside?”
“No. She seems to be confined deep within the main residence. There were no traces of letters going back and forth with the outside.”
‘And yet she sent me a letter in such a situation?’
Chung-rin had come to the Yeomhwa Family for a peace marriage. She was not given freedom.
Why did she go out of her way to send a letter to Wicheonso just before her marriage?
‘She’s a woman with many secrets.’
When he first rescued her from the lake, Wicheonso had sensed helplessness from her.
But during their second encounter on Bukcheonro, it was different.
Not only did she use remarkable movement techniques, but she also didn’t cower before the Absorbent Sword Demon.
‘I could barely sense any internal energy from her either.’
What was the reason that she, who had been confined for so long and hiding herself, finally chose to reveal herself to him?
Wicheonso folded the letter and gazed at Chungbeom.
“We have eyes planted in the Yeomhwa Family, don’t we? Use them to find out what happens before and after the wedding ceremony.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“And prepare the most luxurious clothing possible. We must welcome a precious guest.”
He smiled with a subtle upturn of his lips and threw Chung-rin’s letter into the brazier.
His gaze remained fixed as the fabric burned brightly with the flames and disappeared.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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